The number of people who suffered health problems due to humidifier disinfectants was estimated at 950,000, while the household chemicals are believed to have killed 20,000 people according to a recent study. On September 2 a special investigation committee on the humidifier disinfectant case and the April 16 Sewol disaster (investigation committee) and researchers from the Korea University College of Health Science and the Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health published an article in the Journal of Environmental Health Sciences (Korean Society of Environmental Health) stating that an estimated 950,000 people (870,000-1 million) were injured and 20,366 people died (18,810-21,931) from humidifier disinfectants in South Korea. The researchers visited and interviewed 5,000 households nationwide in October-November 2019 and came up with such estimates after applying the data to an adult population (aged 19-69) of 38 million as of September 2019 (sample of 15,472 adults aged 19-69, 95% confidence level, ±1.414% margin of error).

The people who conducted the study explained that the 20,366 people believed to have died because of humidifier disinfectants included the deaths from illnesses caused by the chemicals, such as asthma, rhinitis and interstitial lung disease. If we add the number of deaths from other diseases, the figure could grow.

The latest article newly released the details that the investigation committee had released at a press conference at the end of July, after enhancing accuracy with a detailed analysis.

At the time of the press conference, researchers estimated that 670,000 (610,000-730,000) people had suffered health issues and 14,000 (13,000-16,000) had died due to the household chemicals. Researchers explained that the numbers grew because the previous figures were based on the percentage of people who had used and suffered damages from disinfectants among the sample households, whereas the latest study applied the percentage of the members of a household.

The latest study also interviewed 5,000 households, the largest sample since surveys on the damage from humidifier disinfectants were launched. In addition, the researchers also worked to enhance the accuracy and confidence of the statistics by securing representativeness of the sample.

According to the latest paper, nearly 2% of all citizens suffered harm to their health because of humidifier disinfectants. The chemicals caused damage at a scale almost equivalent to that of a catastrophe, but the government remains extremely passive in taking any action to seek out the victims. Thus so far only 6,852 people have reported damages as of August 28. This is only 0.72% of the damage estimated in the latest study. The study estimated deaths of over 20,000, but only 1,560 (7.8%) were reported to the government.

Researchers pointed out that the government should actively identify the people who were exposed to the chemicals as well as those who suffered health issues triggered by the disinfectants and establish a system to trace and manage the diseases suffered by the victims. They specifically suggested that the government take advantage of the National Health Insurance Service data, the disinfectant sales data from large supermarkets, and actual medical records from hospitals. They also suggested the government include items on damages from humidifier disinfectants in the public health and nutrition survey, the local community health survey, and the basic survey on public environment and health, which includes all citizens, to accurately identify the scale of damages from these chemicals and to minimize the cost and time burden.

Choi Ye-yong, head of the subcommittee in charge of uncovering the truth at the investigation committee argued, “The government needs to more actively acknowledge the damage caused by humidifier disinfectants. It should ease standards in defining the damage and increase the number of diseases it acknowledges. It should also provide measures in response to the damage.”